Maybe moving to Paducah? (Mayfield, Hickman: insurance, home, buy)

[Waylon69]

Hello!

My wife and I spent two days in Paducah two years ago and really enjoyed our stay! We could image moving there in the near future when we retire.

We have a few questions though and would appreciate any comment!
How likely are floodings in Paducah? Would we need flood insurance?
We noticed that there are hospitals and many stores and restaurants in Paducah, so we might not have to go to the next big city? How about West Paducah? We look for a quiet place to live.

Thanks a lot for any help!

[kygman]

Hi, Waylon. I live in Mayfield, about 25 miles south of Paducah. As far as flooding, any time you're close to a river like Paducah is to the Ohio, there can be a chance of flooding in the rural areas. We were told when we moved to Mayfield that, if you're not living in a flood plain, you can't buy flood insurance. The floodwall built after the 1937 flood takes care of the city itself.

My wife and I have been patients at both hospitals and have no complaints on either one. I had knee replacement and my wife had one of her back surgeries at Baptist Health https://www.baptisthealth.com/paduca...s/default.aspx and my wife had other back surgeries and heart bypasses and caths taken care of at Lourdes https://www.mercy.com/locations/hosp...urdes-hospital. Plus Mayfield also has a great hospital here with Jackson Purchase Medical Center Home | Jackson Purchase Medical Center

Paducah is more or less the "hub" of western Ky and parts of southern Illinois and SW Missouri. If you want a place to got get away for a nice meal, shop at the mall, go for drinks, etc., you go to Paducah. If you have children, Noble Park is a nice family place to go. You can fish, watch the ducks and geese, take a walk around the lake, swim in the pool, picnic, and so on. Out by the mall is Verticle Jump Park full of trampolines and trampoline games. I have a friend with 4 kids, 3 teenagers, and that's their choice for a birthday trip every year.

Don't know a lot about West Paducah. We have friends who have lived a long long time in Heath, west of Paducah.

Did you come to Paducah during the quilt week. There are thousands of quilters from around the world who come to Paducah twice a year to see new quilts, get new ideas and meet other quilters.

Not just Paducah, but don't forget to check out all of western Kentucky. Quite a bit to see from Columbus Belmont State Park http://parks.ky.gov/parks/recreation...nt/overlooking the Mississippi River to Kentucky and Barkley Lakes and the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area
https://www.explorekentuckylake.com/
https://www.landbetweenthelakes.us/

[Waylon69]

Hello Kygman!

Thank you so much for your detailed reply! Your information is very helpful. We stayed in Paducah after having been to Tennessee and really enjoyed our stay in Paducah! Unfortunately we did not come during the quilt week but we have seen youtube videos about the Quilt Museum!

We often talked about Paducah as it might be the right place for retirement. Hopefully also as far as the weather goes. Winters in Iowa are harsh and lots of snow. Property taxes are high here too. That's why we thought it might be better in Kentucky! Of course we don't know yet about utilities, home insurance and other expenses. We just look for a quiet place but close enough to hospitals and stores and some entertainment.

We will check out the links. Thanks a lot!

[Waylon69]

Hello again!
Talking about winter - it is probably milder than in Iowa - and less snow - we suppose. We have checked different websites concerning the climate in Paducah but sure would like to hear from someone who lives in that area. Thanks in advance!

[BLS2753]

Originally Posted by Waylon69

Hello again!
Talking about winter - it is probably milder than in Iowa - and less snow - we suppose. We have checked different websites concerning the climate in Paducah but sure would like to hear from someone who lives in that area. Thanks in advance!

I live 10 miles across the river in Illinois. I have also spent time in the upper midwest. Winters here are mild compared to further north. Some winters there will be little measurable snowfall. Harsher ones will be two major snows with six inches are more each. The milder winters outnumber the harsh ones about three to one. The worst winter event in recent history was an ice storm in 2009, that resulted in a week long power outage.

The main thing to remember here, is that when a winter storm does hit, the resources to deal with it aren't the same as up north. Many roads and streets will remain unplowed. In rural areas, which includes most of the region, it's possible to get snowbound for an extended period. But again, these occurrences are rare.

Summers are hot and humid, but it generally cools off after sunset. The good news is that unlike areas further south, there are extended breaks in the heat with cold fronts that come though for several days, with highs in the mid-eighties.

There's also more of a variety of insects and venomous snakes, if you're an outdoors person.

Tornadoes and storms are a threat, but they are overplayed by the local TV stations as a ratings grabber.

Overall, the climate is a compromise. Not really great, but not bad either.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Waylon69

Hello again!
Talking about winter - it is probably milder than in Iowa - and less snow - we suppose. We have checked different websites concerning the climate in Paducah but sure would like to hear from someone who lives in that area. Thanks in advance!

I have lived in different areas, and I really despise the Ohio Valley climate overall- it is the worst aspects of the North and the South without the positives of either area. Air quality is not very good anywhere along the river either. Winters are generally extremely aggravating with high levels of precipitation, grey skies, little snow, and mud everywhere. Spring is more of the same, tons of rainfall, more humidity. Summer is horrid with an oppressively strong sun angle, heat, humidity, and somewhat less rainfall. Fall is the nicest season, somewhat lower levels of precipitation, not quite grey skies of winter pattern with winter rain and frozen precipitation. In all honesty, I much prefer living further north with actual winters and much more pleasant summer temperatures with tolerable temperatures and humidity.

[kygman]

Originally Posted by BLS2753

The main thing to remember here, is that when a winter storm does hit, the resources to deal with it aren't the same as up north. Many roads and streets will remain unplowed. In rural areas, which includes most of the region, it's possible to get snowbound for an extended period. But again, these occurrences are rare.

Summers are hot and humid, but it generally cools off after sunset. The good news is that unlike areas further south, there are extended breaks in the heat with cold fronts that come though for several days, with highs in the mid-eighties.

There's also more of a variety of insects and venomous snakes, if you're an outdoors person.

Tornadoes and storms are a threat, but they are overplayed by the local TV stations as a ratings grabber.

Overall, the climate is a compromise. Not really great, but not bad either.

I worked for the Kentucky Department of Transportation for 26 years. It is pretty rare to see most roads unplowed. Some of the most rural roads take a little longer to be treated, going by priority. If you look at this snow and ice route map for McCracken County https://transportation.ky.gov/sites/snowky there aren't any roads marked as D or unassigned that I can see. The way this map works is A Route roads are treated and cleared first, then B routes. C routes can't be treated until A's and B's have been treated. Most C's are pretreated with brine or liquid calcium chloride and most major roads, interstate, most A's are also pretreated. I can't speak for the county road department in McCracken but here in Graves County, the county crew does a pretty good job too.

Main insects I've had a problem with for quite a few years is mosquitoes. I was in the woods in the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area for a few hours a couple weeks ago and found one tick on me.
BLS I've heard of a few people in Hickman County and southern Illinois who have been very thankful for those, what you call, "ratings grabber". Because of them they were able to get to safety in time.

[Waylon69]

Thanks again everyone for the information.

We are a bit surprised at the weather data, we thought it might be a bit more comfortable. We are so tired of the winter in Iowa, the blizzards, the wind chill and it's more or less two seasons now, spring did not exist this year. Does anyone have better experiences when it comes to the weather in Kentucky? A better area?

Besides property taxes are very high in this county and don't make it easy to enjoy retirement.

Seems to be very difficult to find the right place for retirement. We also consider Arkansas but it's just not easy to find the right place.

[kygman]

Year before last we didn't have any measurable snow. An average "big" snow around here is around 8-10". High humidity in the summer is what usually gets people. But like a friend of mine said, that's why they make air conditioners!
On the property taxes we were thankful when my wife turned 65. Our total tax bill, city and county, went from over $1100/year to $600 and change.

[Count David]

Any other major concerns/shortcomings about living in the area?

We were in the area two weeks ago; we didn't look that hard at Paducah itself (we did experience the traffic in the big-box area on the west side ), but did look a bit harder at Metropolis and Brookport (and NE of there). Anything about those that wouldn't have been apparent to visitors?

Jobs aren't a concern for us, just looking to downshift a bit. We'd need an airport once a month (and could drive to STL or wherever else), but beyond that, we don't think we'd need much else.